The latest smartphones in North Korea cost hundreds of dollars, with some models costing nearly USD 1,000. While such prices are a significant burden on North Koreans, the phones are still popular.
“The Chongsong 234, Chongsong 222 and Samtaesong 8 are the most popular smartphones these days,” a source in Yanggang Province told Daily NK on Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity. “They are popular because they are the latest models.”
North Korea unveiled the new Chongsong 234 and 222 at the Light Industry Development-2023 trade show last October. The Samtaesong first appeared on Korea Central TV last year.
“The Chongsong 234 costs about 5,000 RMB [around USD 690], the Chongsong 222 costs RMB 3,800, and the Samtaesong 8 costs RMB 6,800,” the source said. “About two out of 10 people use them. Other people use cheaper phones.”
According to a report on North Korea’s key economic indicators in 2023 released by South Korea’s statistics agency, North Korea’s GNI was KRW 36.7 trillion (about USD 27 billion), and its per capita GNI was KRW 1.43 million (about USD 1,060).
Given that North Korea’s latest cell phones are probably beyond the financial reach of ordinary people, wealthy customers are likely to account for most of the purchases.
However, the source said that people still want to buy the latest smartphones because of their excellent performance.
North Korea has released about 60 smartphone models and will likely continue to develop new ones. In addition, the number of local smartphone users is expected to increase as the country launches full-fledged 4G mobile services.
According to a November 2022 briefing on North Korea’s communications networks and infrastructure by 38 North and the Stimson Center, North Korea has between 6.5 million and 7 million mobile subscribers.
In a 2020 report on North Korean smartphone use, the KDB Future Strategy Research Institute estimated that North Korea has about 4.5 million mobile phone users, taking into account that many market vendors carry two or three phones.
North Koreans are like everyone else
North Koreans use their cell phones primarily for socializing and playing games.
“When people use smartphones, they use them 40% of the time for communication, 30% of the time for games, and the remaining 30% for watching videos,” the source said.
In other words, people use smartphones for ordinary things like making calls and playing games, as well as watching videos using SD cards.
North Korean smartphones come with a security feature that automatically deletes unauthorized media files when detected, to prevent the rapid spread and distribution of outside media through the devices. Because North Koreans cannot store outside videos on their smartphones, they insert SD cards containing the material into their phones instead.
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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